Immigration and Migration

Home Office followed unfair process in investigating allegations of mistreatment at immigration detention centres

Home Office followed unfair process in investigating allegations of mistreatment at immigration detention centres The Home Office’s processes for investigating complaints of alleged incidents of staff and contractor misconduct towards immigration detainees has been held to be unlawful by the High Court, because of a failure to disclose the evidence relied on. The case ...

Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #76

Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #76 Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! I am writing this a little early so the usual caveat applies if I have missed out something big that happened Monday morning. On Wednesday morning I recorded the podcast with Barry (yes he’s back!) and asked ...

Migration Advisory Committee gives details of salary requirements and temporary shortage list reviews

Migration Advisory Committee gives details of salary requirements and temporary shortage list reviews Following last week’s letter from the Home Secretary commissioning two reviews from the Migration Advisory Committee, one on salary requirements including discounts, and the second on the temporary shortage list, we now have the response from Professor Brian Bell giving ...

What is the immigration skills charge?

What is the immigration skills charge? The immigration skills charge is an additional fee payable by a sponsoring employer when a certificate of sponsorship is issued prior to a worker beginning their employment. The sponsor is required to pay the immigration skills charge and cannot pass ...

Immigration roundup podcast: June 2025

Immigration roundup podcast: June 2025 Time for your June round up of all things Free Movement – and Barry is back! In this month’s episode both Sonia and Barry divulge some rather niche interests, while discussing the second latest (!!) statement of changes, the Migration ...

Home Office failed to assess risk and impact of changes to skilled worker route

Home Office failed to assess risk and impact of changes to skilled worker route The Public Accounts Committee has published its report on skilled worker visas, finding that changes such as the expansion of the route to social care were made without a full assessment of potential impacts and risks, including the exploitation of ...

Administrative Court gives guidance on handling e-filing issues

Administrative Court gives guidance on handling e-filing issues Fordham J has given some guidance on handling issues relating to the e-filing of judicial review applications in the Administrative Court, stating that this may be something the Administrative Court User Group wishes to consider, or further online guidance provided. ...

Zambrano applications made before the end of the transition period should still be considered after...

Zambrano applications made before the end of the transition period should still be considered after... The Court of Appeal has said that where an application for an EEA family permit as a Zambrano carer under the Immigration (European Economic Area Regulations) 2016 was made before the end of the transitional period (31 December 2020), then ...

Ministry of Justice confirms increase to immigration legal aid rates

Ministry of Justice confirms increase to immigration legal aid rates Yesterday the Ministry of Justice announced that immigration legal aid rates will be increased “as soon as operationally possible”. Overall spending on immigration legal aid will increase by 30%. There doesn’t seem to be much more detail at this stage, ...

Briefing: what is the English language requirement?

Briefing: what is the English language requirement? The English language requirement can be generously viewed as the Home Office’s response to the biblical Tower of Babel story: society is undermined by its people’s inability to speak the same language. But as anyone who has ever had the ...

Former immigration adviser loses appeal against refusal of re-registration

Former immigration adviser loses appeal against refusal of re-registration The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) has dismissed an appeal against the refusal of the Immigration Advice Authority to register the appellant as a level 1 adviser in the immigration category. The case is Ajay Omnath Kapoor v Immigration Advice ...

The Climate Mobility Case Database: a new movement to advance the rights of climate-displaced communities

The Climate Mobility Case Database: a new movement to advance the rights of climate-displaced communities Climate change, disasters and corporate driven-environmental harms are forcing communities to move – both within countries and across borders. Displacement linked to the impacts of climate change is no longer a speculative concern – it is a legal, social, and ...

Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #75

Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #75 Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Another week, another newly surfaced problem with eVisas. Today it was reported that the Security Industry Authority (“an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office”) is not accepting eVisas as official ID for ...

Afghan scheme closed immediately and major changes to skilled worker route – statement of changes:...

Afghan scheme closed immediately and major changes to skilled worker route – statement of changes:... As trailed in the immigration white paper but mysteriously absent from last week’s statement of changes, the skilled worker route is being overhauled with a view to far fewer people being able to use it. Yes that’s right, a mere ...

Concern over new police powers to ensure more foreign nationals are removed from the country

Concern over new police powers to ensure more foreign nationals are removed from the country The Crime and Policing Bill is currently awaiting second reading in the House of Lords and it introduces a number of new measures which expand police powers. BID is concerned that these new powers risk unfair deportation of people with ...

What are the continuing professional development requirements for immigration lawyers?

What are the continuing professional development requirements for immigration lawyers? Immigration and asylum law in particular is a complex and fast moving area, and it is crucial that lawyers stay up to date to best serve their clients. It is also a regulatory requirement that must be met annually. There ...

No need for Home Secretary to provide application form for leave outside the rules under...

No need for Home Secretary to provide application form for leave outside the rules under... The High Court has rejected a judicial review challenging the Home Secretary’s refusal to consider an application made outside the rules. In doing so, the court rejected the argument that the Home Secretary should create a specific application form for ...

Briefing: the support system for migrant victims of human trafficking

Briefing: the support system for migrant victims of human trafficking In this briefing we look at the existing and developing mechanisms for support for migrant victims in the modern slavery system. We also recommend looking at “A guide to assisting survivors of modern slavery in the asylum system” produced by ...

Home Office wrong in adopting a narrow definition of forced labour in trafficking case

Home Office wrong in adopting a narrow definition of forced labour in trafficking case The High Court found a reasonable grounds (first stage) decision in a trafficking case to be unlawful because the Home Office decision maker adopted a restrictive and rigid approach to the definition of forced labour. The case is SAC v ...

Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #74

Free Movement Weekly Immigration Newsletter #74 Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter! Just spotted this – a challenge has gone in on the pause to settlement applications from Syrian refugees. I have been saying for a while that I think this is where the stronger challenge is with ...

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